


could I be the sky on the fourth of july?

by azumarheart



Series: The Aftermath [6]
Category: Stranger Things (TV 2016)
Genre: Angst, Canon Compliant, Canonical Character Death, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Established Relationship, Family Feels, Father-Daughter Relationship, Fluff, Found Family, Gen, Good Parent Jim "Chief" Hopper, Grief/Mourning, Hurt/Comfort, Missing Scene, Parental Jim "Chief" Hopper, Sad Ending
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-12-01
Updated: 2019-12-01
Packaged: 2021-02-26 00:40:36
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,702
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/21624685
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/azumarheart/pseuds/azumarheart
Summary: El learned to love the cabin. The cabin was her happy place. Her safe space. Her home.Hopper was all of those things too.aka a fic detailing El and Hopper's time in the cabin, and their relationship through it
Relationships: Eleven | Jane Hopper & Jim "Chief" Hopper, Eleven | Jane Hopper/Mike Wheeler
Series: The Aftermath [6]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1499990
Comments: 12
Kudos: 42





	could I be the sky on the fourth of july?

**Author's Note:**

> Someone suggested writing about Hopper and El's life in the cabin. I was super inspired and wrote all of this today! 
> 
> It got sadder than I planned oops! I apparently can only write about really happy love or completely devastating moments. I just love emotionally charged scenes! I'm an empath I can't help it!
> 
> Side note: these kind of tie into my other fics in this series between Joyce and El. You should read those too!
> 
> Title from "Fourth of July" by Sufjan Stevens

**Winter 1983**

They had finally finished cleaned out the cabin, after a long couple of days filled with sweeping, dusting, wiping down, and organizing.

Most of the dust had filtered outside through the window, and what was left inside had settled at last.

Finally, Hopper and El flopped down onto the couch, him with a heavy grunt and her with a worn-out sigh. They sat in silence for a moment, before Hopper heaved himself up again.

“Alright. I’m gonna go chop some wood for the fireplace, and you’re gonna get ready for bed. Your pajamas are in the top dresser drawer, remember? I’ll be back in a minute,” Hopper directed, stepping towards the cabin door and putting his coat on. El nodded, and blinked at the silence when he finally stepped outside. She moved quietly across the creaky wood floor, and into the only bedroom in the cabin.

The dresser had been filled with her clothes. Hopper had bought them at a thrift store a town over to avoid suspicion. She picked through the pajamas, unused to so many options, before settling on some pink flannel pants and a thick, wooly white sweater. El changed quickly, before adding a pair of thick socks as well.

When she returned to the living room, Hopper still wasn’t back. She could distantly hear the sound of wood chopping, and figured that she might as well go to bed.

Hopper had purchased a bed for the bedroom, frame and all, to replace the lone cot that was previously in there. He had moved the cot to the living room, and placed it against the wall opposite of the bedroom. A curtain hung from a rod above the bed, which offered some privacy.

El climbed onto the cot, curling into the lone blanket, and tugging the curtain so that it covered her partway. The mattress was thin, but it was better than her bed at the lab. She breathed deeply, and examined the cabin around her.

It was so different from the lab and from Mike’s home. The lab was stark and white and clean and scary. There were no personal touches. Mike’s home was more lived in, but less... homey. Everything seemed perfectly placed, like a dollhouse. But this cabin felt like a home. There were notches in the wooden doorways, stains on the floor, and knickknacks along the walls. It was cozy. El liked it.

She could hear Hopper’s footsteps clomp onto the porch steps, and listened as he stepped inside. He locked the door before removing his winter gear and headed over to drop the wood next to the small fireplace. Hopper didn’t seem to notice her on the cot. He threw another piece of wood in, before standing and heading into the bedroom.

“You ready for bed El?” he asked as he stepped into the room. Upon seeing the bed empty, he startled.

“El?” he yelled, stepping back into the living room. She could see the panic on his face, so she shook the curtain a bit and popped her head out.

“Here,” she said softly. His eyes snapped to her own, and he breathed a sigh of relief.

“Jesus, kid, I thought you ran away,” he mumbled, walking over to her.

“No. Not running. I stay,” replied El. Hopper gave her a small grin.

“Right. You stay. But you’re in my bed so move it kid.”

El looked at Hopper confused, and tilted her head to the side.

“But. Small bed. I am small. You are big. You have big bed.”

Hopper raised an eyebrow at her.

“You’re lucky I’m not insecure about my weight,” he chuckled. She tilted her head again.

“In-se-cure?” she implored. He made a considering face before responding.

“It’s like... being embarrassed about something. Like when you don’t like something about yourself. Some people are insecure that their nose is too big and other stuff,” explained Hopper. She nodded in understanding.

“Anyways, the bedroom is yours, kid. Your stuff’s already in there. I fit on the cot just fine anyway. It’ll be nice for you to have some privacy. A place of your own, yaknow?”

Hopper could see the question coming, and spoke up before her.

“Privacy is having your own space where others can’t see. In this cabin, we have privacy from other people, because they can’t see us or come in. You’ll have privacy from me in your room.”

“Oh. Okay. But…“ El started, before Hopper put his hand out.

“No ‘buts’ here kid. You get the big room. I want you to have it,” he expressed.

El took a moment, before pausing, and getting up from the bed.

“Alright, before you sleep, did you brush your teeth?” Hopper asked, placing a hand on her shoulder to stop her. When she shook her head, he directed her to the bathroom.

Once she was finished, she walked out from the bathroom, and saw Hopper waiting for her on the sofa.

“Ready kid? C’mon,” he said, leading her into the room. El climbed into bed, and Hopper gently tucked the blankets around her. The tightness of the blankets should have felt confining, but they really just made her feel safe. Hopper stood and turned out the light, before coming back to sit on the edge of the bed. El noticed the small light coming from the wall, however.

“Light?” she asked, pointing to the wall. Hopper glanced over, before giving her a small smile.

“It’s a nightlight. That way it won’t be too dark in here. And you’ll be able to see the floor if you need to go to the bathroom or get water or anything,” Hopper explained.

“I can… leave?” asked El. Usually when she was in bed, the door was locked and she wasn’t allowed out until someone got her in the morning. Hopper looked pained at her words.

“Yes you can leave. You can get up and get food or water or use the bathroom whenever you want. You could come sleep on the couch too if you’re scared. The door will be open. You can get me if you need me.”

El smiled. Hopper was very kind.

“Thank you,” she said, feeling her eyes get droopy.

“No problem kid. Goodnight. Don’t let the bed bugs bite,” he said, petting over her hair once before heading to the door.

El’s eyes snapped open in fear.

“Bugs?” she inquired nervously. Hopper turned and laughed at himself.

“It’s a phrase, sorry. There’s no bugs in your bed. I promise. Goodnight,” Hopper replied.

El settled, and repeated his farewell.

She listened as he changed and got ready for bed, and let her eyes shut when she heard him lie down on the cot.

She did not feel afraid as she fell asleep, for the first time in a very long time.

She felt safe.

____________________

**Fall 1984**

The cabin was safe. El liked that it was safe. But it was very, very boring.

Most days, Hopper left early, and came home late. He ate waffles with her in the morning, and sandwiches with her at lunch, and “TV dinners” when he got home. Only waffles on Sundays though; Hopper told her she needed to try other healthy foods.

Every night, El listened to Mike call her on his walkie-talkie. She would smile as he told her about his day, and ache whenever he talked about missing her.

She would cry along with him on the nights when doubt got the best of him, and he questioned if she was really dead.

El made crafts and colored, and posted her pictures around her room. Decorating her space, her privacy, made her happy. She liked her drawings of her friends. It reminded her that there were people out there waiting for her.

Sometimes, usually when they did chores, Hopper would put on the record player and they’d dance. El learned how to hop around and move to the music, and Hopper always did the funniest moves. She laughed so much on those days.

Every night before bed, Hopper would get into his ‘comfy clothes’ and sit with El on the couch. He’d turn on a show usually, but on special occasions he’d rent a movie for them to watch. El slowly went from sitting at the opposite end of the couch to sitting pressed along his side, his arm draped over her shoulder. Some nights, she’d lay with her head on his thigh, and his hand would play with her hair.

Every night, he tucked her in, with a kiss on the forehead. He’d read a book, then would depart to his own bed.

It was nice. It really was. It was safe and warm and happy and El liked being with Hopper. He was good.

But she was so, so bored.

She wanted to see her friends. Hopper wouldn’t let her. He spoke of the bad men, but she didn’t know if he was telling the truth. But friends aren’t supposed to lie.

El didn’t want to fight with Hopper. But she did, and she screamed, and he yelled. Hopper had a very short temper. El was fed up of being stuck in the house every day.

Hopper promised to be back on time. He said her Mama was gone. But he lied again.

He was late.

She found papers about her Mama.

So El left.

She found her Mama and she found answers. El travelled on a bus, and she found her sister.

El found that her sister hurt others. Bad men who had hurt them.

But her story books and TV shows always said revenge was bad. They said that hurting someone else, even when they’ve hurt you, makes you bad too.

So El ran.

Her friends needed her. She needed them.

She needed Hopper.

El found them all at the Byer’s house. And she cried happy tears when Mike kissed her and when her friends held her.

Next thing she knew, she was driving back to the lab with Hopper. And Hopper was saying these things. Things about how he was scared to lose her, like he lost his girl. How he was _in-se-cure_ about hurting everyone around him. About how he didn’t want to lose her.

She understood. Hopper wanted her safe. He thought he couldn’t keep her safe outside the cabin. Hopper cared.

El closed the gate.

Hopper held her close.

Safe.

____________________

He let her go to the Snow Ball with her friends.

  
She jumped up and hugged him so tight when he told her.

He smiled and held her back.

____________________

**Summer 1985**

El liked kissing Mike.

Mike was nice and funny. He listened to what El said even when it took a while to get the words out. He thought she was pretty and blushed in a way that made her heart beat fast. Mike taught her new things, and never talked down to her, or talked about her to others like she wasn't in the room. He was clumsy and awkward and _cute_ and she just loved to kiss him. 

Hopper did not like Mike kissing El.

It made them laugh.

But then Mike was avoiding her and Max encouraged her to dump him.

She didn’t really want to. Mike was nice. But he was lying too.

Maybe Hopper would be happy at least.

But then Max and El were chasing down Billy, and the Mind Flayer came back, and none of that mattered very much anymore.

The Mind Flayer scared her. In the Void, she spoke to it. It was terrifying. She screamed and cried. Then it broke in.

It shot through the cabin walls: the ones El and Hopper had spent so much time decorating and cleaning. The Mind Flayer broke holes through the roof that they had spent hours repairing during the rainy months. It destroyed the TV that they watched shows on every night, and shot a hole through the spot Hopper liked to sit in. It tore Hopper’s privacy curtain and his bed, and the side table he spent so long building.

El didn’t just cry because she was scared. She cried because her safe place was destroyed.

She didn’t see Hopper again until they were in the mall.

El laid on him, injured and exhausted, as he pressed a wet cloth to the cut on her forehead. He held her hand tight, but softly stroked his thumb across the back of her hand. She felt safe again.

Plans were made, but El could just barely listen through her fuzzy thoughts.

They sat together on the fountain, and he spoke soft and low to her. El looped her hand through the hair tie on his wrist, and linked hands with him. He felt safe, and like home, and she felt comforted for the first time in a few days.

She told him she could still fight.

“I know. Better than any of us. But right now, I need you safe,” Hopper said.

_‘I’m safest with you, right here,’_ she thought _._

El could feel tears welling up in her eyes and choking her throat. She nodded when he asked her to understand.

She understood. She just wished she could stay with him. She wished he understood that she was always the safest with him.

Then it was time to go. El pulled Hopper in tight, squeezing him with all of her strength, trying to communicate an unspoken ‘I love you’. Hopper squeezed her back, and she understood the unspoken ‘me too’.

____________________

It wasn’t until the medic was cleaning her wounds that El noticed Sara’s hair tie on her wrist. She smiled down at the blue band, and smoothed over it softly.

The hair tie was likely Hopper’s most treasured item. Having him give it to her meant a lot.

El noticed movement from where she sat with Mike and Steve in the back of an ambulance. She watched as Will ran forwards into the crowd of soldiers, and into Joyce’s arms. She felt desperation clawing at her throat as she threw the blanket off of her shoulder and ran towards where Will had gone.

Her head was on a swivel, looking for the tall figure of Hopper. She wasn’t sure if he’d still be in his brightly colored button-down, or if he had switched to blend in. When she caught sight of Joyce however, her thoughts stopped.

Joyce stared at her over Will’s shoulder, tears in her eyes. Her hands were tangled into Will’s shirt, holding onto him for dear life.

El brightened for half a second, seeing that Joyce was alive. If Joyce was alive, then so was Hopper, right?

She watched for a second more, but Joyce’s face did not change. In fact, it grew even more heartbroken. She understood was Joyce was saying.

El couldn’t breathe. She couldn’t think. She couldn’t feel her hands or the ground below.

Hopper was… Hopper was gone? He didn’t make it? But he always made it…

Hopper. Her Hopper. Her… dad. Her safe place. Hopper.

Gone.

El felt her face contort as a whine built up in her chest. She couldn’t help it. Couldn’t stop the feeling. Didn’t want to. She couldn’t contain the pain.

Her lungs forced out a wail louder than anything she’s ever heard. At the same time, it sounded so muffled, so far away. Hot tears poured down her cheeks, and she jolted as Joyce grabbed onto her. She stuffed her face into the crux of Joyce’s neck, and cried.

Not long after, her knees went weak, and she fell to the floor. Joyce followed her down. El allowed herself to curl into the woman in front of her and sob.

Hopper was gone. Hopper was never coming back. There would be no more TV nights spent in his lap, no more waffle towers on Sundays, no more being tucked into bed with a goodnight kiss. No more books and nightlights and dance parties with the old record machine. No more unspoken ‘I love you’s, and no chance for future spoken ones. He’d never see her go to school, or maybe get married one day, or even maybe be a mother one day.

Hopper was gone.

And so was her home.

**Author's Note:**

> I know I've been saying it for months but I'm working on a Will-centric fic that is (get this) happy! aha just wait and see! It's longer and more plot-based than I'm used to which is why it's taking long lol
> 
> Here's a floor-plan of the cabin if you need help visualizing :)  
> https://external-preview.redd.it/14Nx1RfTfM1S2OIS1J414kdNDLzMn5ZERl6kgyKWACY.jpg?auto=webp&s=6c42844d9557827e85d4e9d8ee8c1937c927317c


End file.
